


Night

by punkdentist



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drinking, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:45:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5658253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkdentist/pseuds/punkdentist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"So I've been thinking ..." Zoro says.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>That's never good, Luffy thinks and snickers.</i>
</p>
<p> A quiet moment between the future pirate king and his first mate. Discussions after midnight are never quite like those had in daytime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night

**Author's Note:**

> takes place at some undefined time in the new world

Two candles light up their immediate surroundings, and, Zoro notices, cast a golden shimmer on Luffy's brown skin, but beyond that there only the night and of course the sea. Zoro knows that even if he cannot see it. He feels it in his bones, in the air, the same way he knows Luffy is next to him, would know it if the dark were not lit up like it is. The candles are Luffy's idea actually. He has brought them from the kitchen, where the rest of the crew are still giggling and playing cards, and carried them all the way to the top deck, spilling almost no wax and barely burning himself, while also holding a fruity drink. Luffy allows himself to be proud of that and smiles for many reasons. He likes this. The quiet moments. It is hard to find the time to be alone together, even on a ship this big. They can still hear barely audible music and low shouts coming from below-deck. 

"So I've been thinking ..." Zoro says.

That's never good, Luffy thinks. He snickers.

"What?" Zoro grunts. He frowns, but he is not annoyed. Not really.

"Nothing ... I just thought of something mean, but I won't say it because I like you too much." Luffy says, grinning to show off all his teeth.

Zoro shrugs and pushes the sliver of curiosity away. It does not matter. He raises his bottle to his lips, dry and chapped because he would never even consider using lip balm. The bottle is empty, he finds, so he drops it on the deck. It lands with a heavy thud that makes Luffy snap upwards, his eyes growing alert and dangerous, until he notices the source and slumps back down. They watch the bottle together, as it rolls across the wooden planks and gets swallowed up by the night.

The wall is solid behind him, and Zoro leans against it, craning his neck to get a better view of the sky. It is dotted with stars, here and there in clusters that form constellations he does not recognise, not that he knows many stars to begin with. Zoro considers getting up to find Nami, she would know for sure, she seems to know everything worth knowing about the sky He decides against it. It is not worth the effort. Zoro does not need to understand something to appreciate it, to find it beautiful. He looks at Luffy who looks at the stars. Zoro's eyes fall on his neck, the way it bends back at an impossible angle. Somehow this is more grotesque than the inhuman lengths he stretches to during a battle or simply for fun. Maybe, Zoro thinks, that is because it is only just a step away from the ordinary, because it is so like what you would expect, but not quite. He is interrupted in this trail of thought when Luffy twists and snaps back into a semblance of normal human anatomy.

"Incredible, isn't it?" Luffy says.

Zoro nods. Incredible, that your mind always seem to be the same place as mine, he thinks. He leans over, snatches the drink out of Luffy's warm hand. It is a sugary concoction with multiple berries floating around in syrupy alcohol and contains both a straw and a colourful paper umbrella, which Zoro privately considers overkill. He takes a big gulp, wincing a little at the sweetness. The straw pokes him in the eye. He blinks. Chopper and Luffy had done the mixing earlier with Sanji as a bemused spectator, who interrupted them only once to tell them not to burn through the entire supply of sugar. Zoro wants to say something about that, deliver a funny comment about how ridiculously sweet it is, how it tastes like they used all the sugar in the world, but witty oneliners rarely come easy to him, he is not like Usopp. Zoro can hardly think of something to say when sober, much less after emptying a bottle or three. In the end, Luffy beats him to it.

"What was it that you waahh!" Luffy begins, breaking off midway through to yawn. "-- wanted to say before?"

"Just ... I'm first mate, right?" Zoro asks.

"Uh huh. You were the first to join so you're first mate, that's logic." Luffy says. He leans in and wraps his lips around the straw, sipping from the drink Zoro is holding.

"That's what I figured too, but that's a lot of weight on my shoulders. What if you die? Am I supposed to act as captain? Make the decisions? I'm not sure if ..." Zoro says. If I can hangs unsaid in the air.

"Oh, you're right.That's not good." Luffy says. He frowns, deep in thought. "Well, I guess I just don't die then."

"You better not." Zoro grunts, accepting the solution. He wraps his arm around Luffy, pulling him closer. Luffy laughs.

**Author's Note:**

> so I'm not sure if they ever officially declared Zoro first mate in the manga but whatever :/
> 
> hope you enjoyed!!


End file.
